The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said it was happy that no one was seriously injured when an AH-64E Apache helicopter purchased from the US crashed into a residential building on Friday.
The AIT, which represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties, said it understood that the Taiwanese government is conducting a thorough investigation into the accident and would have no further comment or speculation at this time.
The AH-64E chopper crash-landed on top of a three-story building in Taoyuan County’s Longtan Township (龍潭), resulting in minor injuries to the two pilots and damage to several apartments.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) said an AH-64E helicopter costs nearly NT$2 billion (US$64 million) and urged the Ministry of National Defense to demand that the US compensate Taiwan with a new AH-64E.
Hsueh said the aircraft was flying normally when it suddenly lost power, leaving the pilots no time to respond before it crashed into the block of apartments.
The army said it has formed a task force to investigate the cause of the accident, adding that the warranty period is one year and the military took delivery of the craft in November last year.
It will have to determine if the mishap was caused by human error or mechanical failure before taking any further action.
The Control Yuan — the government body responsible for investigating and censuring civil servants and public agencies — said it will look into the accident to see if related departments or personnel should be held accountable.
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